


Temporary SouthSider

by dreamerbydawn



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Canon compliant for everyone except Ian, Gallagher family bonding, Hurt/Comfort, Ian centric, Ian gets a different story arc, M/M, Rewritten story line for Ian Gallagher, Set through season 1-3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-25 22:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3827077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerbydawn/pseuds/dreamerbydawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gallaghers pop into existence all the goddamn time, the last one was black for Christ's sake! This time though? Monica drops off a 15 year old, northside raised, gay redhead that she just got custody of after a car crash killed the kid's family. </p><p> Thing is, Ian is not dealing with the loss very well, honestly, he's not dealing at all. He's just running away from his past and drowning himself in his new life, which mostly means he's quick to make himself Fiona's other pillar of support, Lip's partner in crime and Mandy's fake boyfriend. </p><p> All the same, Ian Gallagher fits himself into the South Side like he was always meant to be there but it isn't until Mickey Milkovich happens that life really begins again. </p><p> (Please check the notes for details about the slight canon divergence)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Season 1 AU

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewritten version of the first three seasons, the only direct change in storyline being Ian's, who instead of having the 'coming to terms with his sexuality' and West point story arc, deals with losing the life he had with his recently deceased father Clayton Gallagher while learning to love his new SouthSide family. The rest of the story will remain the SAME. 
> 
> There will be three chapters, as in, one chapter for each season and the next two updates will the on Sundays too!
> 
> Hope that's everything! :) Enjoy the story!

 Ian Gallagher is fifteen years old the first time he finds himself in the South Side of Chicago. It’s also the first time he’s met his biological mother, who is now his legal guardian. 

 It’s been a month since his family died in the car crash, the funeral had been three weeks ago, then it had been two weeks of lawyers and court dates and living with his neighbors before Monica Gallagher was tracked down and handed custody. 

 She’d tried to be comforting, promised she wanted him and then brought him here; to enroll in a new high school, where he could ‘ _start fresh_ ’ and have a family again. 

 He hadn’t said much, just agreed to everything and trailed after her. 

* * *

 "Oh my darling, Lip!! Lip honey!” Monica suddenly shouts from where she’s paused after spotting the light haired teen. 

 Across the yard of the school, Lip Gallagher freezes, ears disbelieving, but already aware that he’d turn around to find his missing mother back in town. By Monica’s side, Ian looks over to who she is waving at, simply watching the older boy drop his cigarette as he turns around. 

 Lip is still stunned by the time Monica makes her way over, wrapping her arms around him and whispering in his ear about how much she missed him; the words making his blood boil. 

 “What the fuck Monica? What are you doing here?” He asks, shoving his mother away despite his eyes glazing over. 

 “I came to get Ian into school with you!” She answers easily, hand motioning to the redhead that Lip is only just noticing. 

 “Ian?” He asks, incredulous but wishing he didn’t already know where this was going.

 He finally paid proper attention to the smaller boy with Monica’s eyes and _goddamnit_ , she wasn’t dumping another kid on them, definitely not a bastard child she had with whoever the fuck she slept with. 

 “You remember uncle Clayton don’t you Lip?” Monica questions and Lip notices the redhead flinch but his mother keeps talking “Well, this is our son Ian, he looks so much like his father -” 

 “Shut up Monica! I don’t fucking care” Lip snaps at her “You’re not putting him in school here and he’s not living with us. Liam wasn’t enough? You’re going to drop a fucking teenager on Fiona next?” 

 Ian stares at his cousin, half brother, whatever and then glances over at a surprised looking Monica, but the woman isn’t upset. 

 “No silly, i’m back.” She says with a wide smile. 

 “Yeah, fuck you” Lip half snarls, hands fisting as he glares at his mother.

 Last time she was back, she’d just had Liam and their baby brother was all of three months old when she took off, and it was Fiona that was raising him since. There was no way they were going through this shit again. 

 “Lip baby, you’re angry but -” Monica begins reassuringly when he scowls harder. 

 “I’m not fucking kidding Monica, drop your kid off wherever the fuck you brought him from and then fuck off” He orders and now she’s starting to look a bit hurt. 

 “I can’t do that Lip” She mumbles sadly and jesus, he’s not letting her go home. No way. 

 “Sure you can. Fuck off” He bites out, when she shakes her head and repeats that she can’t making him demand “Why the fuck not?”

 “Cuz my dad died in an accident” Ian cuts in, speaking for the first time. 

 The answer shocks Lip into turning towards the younger boy, who is looking back at him with a blank face.

 “It was so terrible Lip! Clayton and his wife and their eleven year old kid, isn’t that so -” Monica has tears in her eyes as she tries to tell him the sad news. 

 But Lip isn’t looking at her, he’s seeing the hard set of Ian’s jaw and the way his eyes don’t even mist over, but just stare right back at him without any emotion. 

 “Point is, she has custody of me now.” The kid says bluntly after noticing the older boy looking at him. 

 “Fuck” Lip whispers back, still staring at Ian in shock. 

* * *

 Lip isn’t entirely sure what to think. The kid lost his whole family and got stuck with Monica, even their fucked up lives didn’t sound as terrible as that did. 

 And the way Ian is so cold and silent, not having spoken a word beyond those two sentences, makes him want to put an arm around the boy’s shoulder and comfort him. 

 He hasn’t done that though, just trailed after a still babbling Monica, remaining as silent as Ian and shooting glances in his direction every few seconds.  

 When they make it back home though, Ian doesn’t follow them past the porch. 

 “I think I should stay here till you talk this out” He informs when the other two look back at him questioningly. 

 “Oh honey, you don’t have to. This is your home now too” Monica smiles, waving invitingly at him. 

 Ian just shakes his head and settles on the front step “I’d rather not be there when you tell the story again, thanks”

 Monica’s shoulders fall and she looks sadly at the boy, while Lip makes up his mind on instinct and pushes his mother into the house, motioning for her to give them a second and settles next to Ian instead. 

 “You smoke?” He asks, not really sure where the kid grew up but knowing it was a place much better than the south side if his clothes were any indication. 

 “No” Ian answers but his eyes linger on the joint Lip is lighting up. 

 “You look like you could use one” Lip points out, handing over the lit stick to the younger boy. 

 Ian takes it wordlessly, breathing it in and then promptly choking. Lip reaches out then, hand patting down the kid’s back even as he takes the smoke back. 

 “Sorry” He says, but he’s not talking about the smoke, and he thinks Ian knows that when he avoids his eyes and stares out at nothing. 

* * *

 Fiona has her head in her hands, sitting on the edge of her own bed. She’s had a lot of bullshit thrown her way from a very young age, but today still takes the cake. 

 She knew about Ian, knew Monica had a kid that wasn’t Frank’s because she remembers the pregnancy, but she’d never known what happened to the child or whose it really was.

 So in a way, the knowledge that she had another teenage brother wasn’t as shocking as it could have been.

 And when Monica explained the situation, Fiona knew she was taking the kid in and keeping him even when her mother took off in the coming days. 

 The words still rang in her head, Ian had lost his parents and a younger brother who was barely as old as Debbie and she understood immediately why she’d seen Lip sitting outside with his half brother, instead of screaming at his mother inside the house. 

 Not having a choice herself, Fiona had gone back out to get the two boys in, awkwardly hugging Ian with a whispered apology, even as she exchanged a glance with Lip. 

 She had watched the new redhead at the dinner table, he looked small and innocent but she only needed to meet his eyes and see the dead look to know whatever the kid had been like before, it was all gone now. 

 She’d kept Debbie and Carl from asking questions and Monica had disappeared off to find Frank and Ian was bunking in the room with Lip and Carl, but she still didn’t know what to say to him. 

 Carefully, she crossed the hallway, pushed the door open and peeked in to see Carl already out like a light, Ian stretched out on his new bed and Lip sitting at the window, smoking. 

 Her brother glanced up at her for a moment, before hopping to his feet and leaving the room, letting her know by action that Ian wasn’t asleep. 

 The younger boy remained on his front, face buried in his pillow and entirely silent when Fiona settled in next to him and reached a hand out to run through his fiery hair. 

 “Hey” She says quietly when he stills under her touch. 

 “You can cry” She adds, hand still carding through his hair once he flips over and stares stubbornly at the ceiling. 

 “Actually can’t” He shrugs, words coming out flat. 

 She wonders briefly if he has cried at all but doesn’t know what to say about that, so she pulls him in closer and stays silent for a long moment. 

 “Monica will leave” Fiona informs, guessing he should know that before he got attached. 

 “I figured” Ian answers and she supposes seeing her and Lip’s reaction to the woman was all anyone would need to know that. 

 “She’s probably also going to crash first” Fiona continues, seeing the violent way he recoils and cursing internally at her stupidity. 

 “Shit. Sorry. I meant mentally Ian. She’s bipolar. Her mood goes from really high highs and then really low lows.” She explains quickly but the words don’t seem to be registering with the younger boy. 

 If anything his body still trembles from the initial reaction to her words and Fiona can’t help but reach out and hug him close as she whispers more apologies. 

 “I’ve got you. Me and Lip have got you alright? I promise we’re not going anywhere Ian. You’re not alone” 

 It’s the only promise she can make as she presses a kiss into his red hair and holds him tighter. 

* * *

 Frank hits Ian. 

 

 It’s about two weeks since the kid moved in and Monica has already disappeared again, or at least that’s what Fiona thinks, since she hasn’t seen her mother in two days. 

 It seemed like Frank thought the same thing too because he stumbles home that night, more drunk that he usually was and spots Ian at the table with the rest of them. 

 The first time he’d met the kid, he’d started to ramble something about his brother and Ian had promptly left the room, avoiding the man ever since. 

 Today though, Frank cornered him before he could make his escape and has said barely five words before he punches Ian right in the face. 

 Lip moves quickly, shoving at Frank while Fiona rushes towards the younger boy with a bleeding nose. 

 She’d half expected him to fall over from the hit, but he’s barely lost his footing, just wipes the blood away without consequence and she figures he’d be okay for another minute, so she rounds on her father instead. 

 “What the fuck was that?” Lip is demanding angrily. 

 “What? he’s not mine and his bitch of a mother is already gone -” Frank begins when Fiona cuts in. 

 “He’s mine. And you don’t touch any of my kids Frank. Ever” She warns, glaring hard at her father until he shrugs and walks up the stairs, complaining about something else as he went. 

 When she turns back around, she sees Ian staring at her with wide eyes and she thinks it’s the first time she’s actually seen any sort of real reaction from him. 

 “You okay?” She asks, softening her tone even as Debbie brings over a wet cloth for him to wipe his face. 

 “Thanks Debs” he says, taking the fabric from the younger girl before nodding at Fiona. 

 “C’mere” She insists, moving towards him instead “Let’s see if I need Vee to take a look at that”

 “I’m fine” Ian assures before offering her the tiniest of smiles. 

* * *

 Things seem to change after that. 

 Not drastically, Ian is still mostly silent. He still hasn’t said a word about his family or the life he had before the South Side, but he starts offering comments on movies they’re watching or joins conversations at the dinner table sometimes. 

 Both Fiona and Lip watch him closely though, not sure what they’re waiting for, but internally hoping there was more under the cool facade he keeps up. 

 Nothing happens though, not even at school. 

 Lip isn’t sure how Ian hasn’t gotten bullied yet, he’s small, he’s new and he’s definitely not South side. 

 But somehow, when he went to check on the kid at lunch on the first day just to make sure he was still breathing, Ian was perfectly fine and without a scratch on him.

 After the first few days, he figures no one is going to mess with the kid after all. 

 Fiona sees it too, how the boy fit himself into the South side without breaking a sweat, especially considering she’d seen where he lived before when he'd asked her and Lip to get his boxes for him, not willing to go back himself.

 Still, he keeps out of trouble, hangs out with Lip most of the time, seems to know what he’s doing with Debbie and Carl, pulls his own weight around the house and has been working a job at the store a few blocks over since the first week he got there. 

 It’s safe to say, this wasn’t remotely close to what they’d expected when Monica dropped a teenage kid into their family, because if anything, he’s been sort of a blessing really and they weren’t even talking about the extra money from his job. 

 And sure, there’s a saying about not looking the gift horse in the mouth for a reason, but the elder Gallagher duo can’t keep from worrying. 

 Even when Ian seems to be on the way of quickly becoming Lip’s best friend and Fiona’s other pillar of support, he’s still unnervingly put together and they sometimes just pause and watch, like if they stare hard enough, they’ll break the ice on the surface and get through what definitely has to be the shock. 

 No teenager survived a trauma, got thrown head first into the shittiest life possible and came out perfectly collected like Ian. 

* * *

 Ian is falling apart. 

 He doesn’t even recognise his life anymore and when he looks into a mirror, he definitely doesn’t see himself in it. 

 He’s literally pulled a guy’s shoulder out of it’s socket the first day of school when he got cornered in the bathroom - but he got away clean because the three older boys hadn’t wanted to admit the pint sized new kid got the better of them.

 It’s not the kind of person he was. Sure, he’s learnt Karate and other martial arts since he was old enough to walk, because his father had still been a South Sider and thought he needed to know how to defend himself. 

 He has more than enough awards stashed away to prove how good he was in a fight, but he had never been violent.

 He still wasn’t sure what possessed him to actually do that to the other teen instead of just clocking him and letting off with a warning. It’s what he would have done before.  

 It’s not the only thing that’s changed though. Where Ian had always been surrounded by friends and had definitely been one of the popular kids with a good place in the sports team before, he hadn’t signed up for a single activity here and spoke to no one. 

 The worst thing though, is that he’s fucking his boss. It’s strange to realise he has a job at all, but actually sleeping with a married man? He’s not sure why he’s doing it. 

 He’s gay and he needs to vent more than just his sexual frustration and Kash was easy and willing and Ian’s just taking what he gets. 

 Still, when the only person he’s been with was his ex - boyfriend of eight months when he was fourteen, he’s surprised at himself for agreeing to sex with no strings attached. 

 Speaking of things he’d never do before brings him back to his classroom where his teacher is obscenely rubbing his very obvious hard on into the desk of the girl in front of him. 

 Casually, he slides his backpack out, purposefully leaving it there for the older man to trip on. When he lands on his ass, Ian simply hooks his ankle back around the bag and drags it to it’s previous resting place. 

 He notices the shocked look he’s receiving from the girl - Mandy -  and simply offers her a shrug. 

 Yeah, he’s shocked too.

* * *

 What’s possibly more shocking is the fact that Mandy Milkovich is sitting in the Gallagher house after having shown up at Ian’s work place and then walked home with him. 

 It’s pretty obvious what she’s hoping for and Ian’s at the very limit of his comfort zone when Carl leaves the pair of them alone. 

 Mandy wastes no time to straddle him and when she pulls out a condom, he has to all but force his brain to start functioning again, because there was being direct and then there was jumping someone. 

 “Whoa, hold on” He catches her wrist but she is undeterred and leans forward to press another kiss to his lips. 

 “What’s wrong silly?” She giggles and Ian has to put effort into not rolling his eyes. 

 “You’re a girl” He says bluntly, glad when her free hand stops palming his dick. 

 “What?” Mandy asks confused. 

 “I’m gay Mandy” He clarifies and it’s almost funny how she nearly topples off him. 

 Still, instinct makes him reach out and keep her balanced on his knees while she attempts to process that. 

 “You’re what?” She asks again, still sounding confused. 

 “I’m gay.” he repeats, plucking the condom out of her hand and dropping it on the seat next to him. 

 When she continues to look disbelieving, he presses her hand into his dick and reaches for her breast with the other one, simply waiting for her to realise what he’s trying to say.

 The girl stares at him for the longest moment before she starts laughing. 

 “Alright shithead, I get the point” She says, shoving his hand off her chest and climbing off his lap. 

 “You sure it’s not just me that -” She asks hesitantly once she sits back on the couch next to him, and Ian sees her hand waving in the direction of his soft dick. 

 “Why would it be?” he questions, surprised. 

 “I don’t know, maybe you think i’m ugly or something” Mandy shrugs and the insecurity is clear even when she keeps her eyes averted. 

 “You’re beautiful Mandy, i’m just not wired that way” Ian promises. 

 “Yeah?” She still sounds cautious and he crosses his heart in answer, making her smile again. 

 “So why did you do that for me in class?” Mandy questions next and he can’t help but shrug again. 

 “Just because” Is all Ian says and before the girl can add anything else, he hears the sound of Fiona’s voice “Think my sister is home” 

 “Guess i’ll see you tomorrow then” Mandy offers, standing up and grabbing her jacket just as Fiona enters the room. 

 Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise but Mandy smiles at her with ease, turns around and pecks Ian on the lips again and bounces out of the house happily. 

* * *

 Mandy had spent the night back in her own bed, fingers running lightly against her lips and thoughts on the last person she’d kissed. 

 She knew Ian was new to the South Side even though he was a Gallagher, but she hadn’t given him much of a thought until that stunt he pulled in class. 

 If the guy had been looking to impress her, he’d done his job well but the problem was Ian hadn’t done it so there would be something in it for him: and that, Mandy didn’t understand. 

 She went over what had transpired in the Gallagher house again and her brain kept sticking to just one line he’d said. 

 _‘you’re beautiful’_  

 It’s something she’s never heard before. Sexy or hot? Definitely. Comments about her tits or her lips were common place too. 

 But Ian had gone with beautiful instead and he’d obviously meant it, there was just no deceit in his eyes. 

 In fact everything about him was honest and genuinely good and whatever brought him to the South side, he didn’t belong here. People that were sincere in just about anything had no place here. 

 Then again, he’d defended her when he really did not have to and now she was going to return the favor.

 It’s why she was waiting outside for all the many Gallaghers to pile out of the house for school. 

 “Mandy?” Ian sounds just as surprised as the rest of the group are to see her there. 

 “Hi there” She smiles, skipping forward to slip her arm into his and tugging him away from his siblings. 

“What are you doing?” he blinks, staying rooted to the spot even as the other Gallaghers get the message and start walking away. 

 “You realise being gay is a death sentence in this neighborhood don’t you?” She asks him with seriousness, because really, he cannot go around blurting it out the way he did to her.

 “It’s not a blessing no matter where you are” He answers easily. 

 “Whatever shithead. You can’t just tell people that” She warns and he still doesn’t seem bothered. 

 “You’re the only one that knows” The redhead says and she’s ridiculously happy about the fact. 

 “Your family?” She asks, motioning towards where his siblings were turning a corner down the street. He simply shakes his head and shrugs. 

 “Fine then, you want me to be your girlfriend? It keeps people from finding out about you” She proposes and once again, the surprise is back on his face. 

 “You’d do that for me?” He asks, green eyes going wide. 

 “Sure. It keeps the douchebags away from me” Mandy tries to sound casual about it, but drops her eyes to the ground as she adds “And i’ve never had a real boyfriend before, not that you’d be a real boyfriend but -” 

 She’s interrupted mid sentence when Ian slips his hand into hers with a very simple “I’d love to be your boyfriend Mandy” 

* * *

 Ian is sitting at lunch with the Milkovich girl, thinking of the fact that he had a girlfriend now. Which, yeah, another thing he never saw happening in his life. 

 He’d never had a problem with accepting who he was, and being in the LGBT association in his previous school meant that he never made a secret out of it either. 

 But it’s been two months since - well it’s been two months and his life, this new life, it was just turning out to be more of a contrast to his old one by the day. 

 In a way he’s grateful for that, because he’s not sure he could live with losing everything and having the world around him not change one bit for the fact, but it doesn’t make things any easier. 

 “So how are you a Gallagher and only showing up around here now?” Mandy probes curiously and Ian is reminded of exactly why he didn’t attempt to make friends here - He’d have to talk about his life and what brought him here. 

 He does it now anyway, gives her a very blunt summary and when he sees her pale with shock, looks away. 

 “I don’t want to keep talking about it Mandy” He informs, but her silence isn’t helping anymore than the pity he knows he’ll see if he turns around. 

 The girl slips a hand into his again, squeezes lightly and he’s expecting another empty apology or a bunch of kind words thrown his way. 

“I swear more Gallaghers just pop into existence all the fucking time. I mean really, the last one was black and you are gay, what’s next?” She comments instead and Ian can’t help whip his head around to see her. 

 There’s kindness in her eyes that tells him she’s not brushing it off, not really. She’s just doing what he asked and trying to lighten the topic and Ian is so incredibly grateful that he starts laughing.  

 It’s the first time in months and it feels so good that Ian can’t help pull the girl into a tight hug and press a kiss into her colorful hair. 

* * *

 Everybody sees the changes in Ian since Mandy Milkovich happened. 

 It’s like he’s finally learned to smile again. It’s not on his lips all the time or anything like that, but it definitely makes an appearance at the corner of his mouth every now and then. 

 The tension they’d never noticed in his shoulders melt a little when she’s around and there’s the slightest flicker of something in what used to be dead eyes. 

 Fiona thinks that maybe Ian wasn’t going to simply snap one day, that the person he was, would stay the same, just with more happiness and life. 

 It’s why she’s more than willing to accommodate the younger girl no matter her last name, or how often she seems to hang around Ian. 

 Actually, Mandy is there all the time either to study or just to simply hang out and it’s only Lip that actually notices the complete lack of any sexual activity between the pair. 

 He watches how the girl always gives Ian a chaste kiss before she leaves but otherwise, they do nothing more than hold hands or hug. 

 “You’re making Mandy Milkovich take it slow? Wow” He comments one evening after the girl just left. 

 Ian glances his way, a single eyebrow quirked up and Lip simply shrugs. 

“Just tell me you aren’t a virgin man” Is all the older boy asks and Ian rolls his eyes. 

“So what’s the hold up?” Lip presses, because of course he’s curious. 

 He’s a little surprised when Ian sits up straighter and studies him like he’s not sure how to answer that instead of simply asking him to fuck off. 

 “It’s - complicated” Ian admits and it has to be if he’s actually chewing his lip off like that. 

 “What, you can’t get it up?” Lip teases, leaning over and punching the younger boy on the shoulder. 

 “Not for her” Ian answers and the surprise makes Lip frown and wait expectantly. 

 “Oh what the hell” The redhead mumbles before looking him in the eye and confessing “I’m gay” 

 Lip can feel his jaw dropping open and Ian is leaning back on the wall now, entirely too relaxed to be having this conversation. 

 “You’re gay?” Lip repeats “And you’re dating Mandy Milkovich because?”

 “We’re not dating. She’s my fake girlfriend because she doesn’t want me getting knifed or something. We’re really best friends” 

 His answer is messing with Lip’s head because one, he doesn’t get why you’d like another dude when women are... well, there’s a reason they’re the fairer sex. 

 And two, Milkovich’s were renowned for fag bashing and yeah, Mandy was different, he’d accept that much after all the times he’s seen her with Ian, but really? He’d underestimated her. 

 Also three, did Ian really have to make life harder for himself? Being thrown into the South side with no warning wasn’t enough for him? 

 “You’ve actually ever been with a girl?” Lip asks when he finally manages to find the words. 

 “You’ve actually ever been with a guy?” Ian shoots back and alright, fair point. 

 “Fine, have you ever been with a guy?” He wants to know next, because how else could Ian be sure. 

 “Sure, had a boyfriend” Is the simple answer he gets, but he already sees Ian shutting down. 

 “Fuck. Alright Ian, you can’t exactly -” Lip begins when the younger boy sighs. 

 “Blurt out these things here? Yeah, I got the lecture. You and Mandy are the only ones that know. Wouldn't have told her if I didn’t want to get out of having sex and wouldn’t have told you if you weren’t...well you” 

 Ian’s answer is honest and his trust in Lip is clearer in those words than they’d been when the younger boy wordlessly went along with his recent scams. 

 So alright, he’s a little shocked and in all the time he’s spent trying to figure Ian out, this isn’t what he expected.

 But when has the redhead ever been what was actually expected? 

* * *

 Mandy would agree to Lip’s sentiment in a heartbeat. It only took her a week to realise Ian Gallagher was definitely not what she’d expected. 

 It happened the first time she’d brought him over to her place, she’d noticed him eyeing the guns that the Milkovich’s had simply lying around and quickly told him to not worry about it. 

 Ian had just looked strangely at her for a moment before walking over and picking one up and asking if they had a target hanging around somewhere. 

 She’d been incredulous, telling him to not be an idiot when he asked her to let him have a try. 

 She debated it for a second before figuring that he’d come across a gun in the south side one way or another, and grabbing the revolver he was holding and stalking towards the backyard. 

 As she walked, she’d explained the basics of the gun and then given him an exhibit A when she shot at the beer can she just set up. 

 Ian hadn’t said a word, just watched her as she took three shots before finally nailing the can and then he crossed over, setting up eight cans in a row and taking the gun from her. 

 She had barely had time to wonder if he’d manage to shoot at least one of those when he surprised her. 

 Eight shots rang out, each one hitting it’s target with precision and Mandy stared at him with open mouthed disbelief. 

 “Guns weren’t invented in the South Side Mands” He had informed coolly. 

 It’s the exact moment Mandy discovered Ian Gallagher wasn’t the sweet timid boy she thought him to be. He’d then admitted to being in the ROTC and to all the martial arts championships he’d won, not to mention having been with the NRA for two years. 

 He also confessed the most violent he’d been apart from breaking his opponents bones in a tournament was when he’d ripped out some kid's shoulder first day in school. 

 And fuck, she really had not seen any of that coming and stared at him with her jaw hanging open.

 When he noticed her expression though, he actually smirked, telling her it was fine if people thought he was soft just because he wasn’t from the neighborhood. 

 Really though, it was more than fine. It was an added advantage to have people underestimate him and it looked like he knew it.

 That’s what really made her realise that while he was new to the South side and unused to the roughness of their everyday life, he wasn’t a pussy that needed her protection. 

 No, they’d just have each other’s backs. 

* * *

 Surprisingly enough, this time, the person that followed up on Mandy’s discovery wasn’t Ian’s brother but her own. 

 Mickey had been taken aback the first time Gallagher actually stood up to him in front of towel head’s store. He brushed it off because Mandy had babbled enough about him for Mickey to know the kid was new to the South side and didn’t know of the Milkovich reputation. 

 But the surprise from that day didn’t even hold up in comparison to the utter shock he’d felt when the kid actually broke into his fucking room. 

 At first he’d thought the redhead was just really dumb, but when he’d fought back against Mickey with absolutely no hesitation, it had immediately turned him on. 

 It seemed like luck really was on his side though, because Gallagher did not just turn out to be a good fight, but just happened to be a faggot too; which right then, Mickey could definitely appreciate. 

 If he had to be entirely honest though, he did not completely appreciate the kid until they’d finished fucking because not only had firecrotch not even offered to be the one taking it up the ass, he hadn’t asked Mickey what he wanted either. 

 He’d simply flipped them over and got in control and fucking hell if that kid didn’t fuck with a vengeance.

 It was the hardest fucking Mickey had gotten till date and there was absolutely nothing that was soft or puppy like in the kid when they were in bed. 

 If he hadn’t tried to kiss him after Terry left - which was another stroke of blind luck in what was Mickey’s increasingly lucky day - the youngest Milkovich male would have been convinced the kid wasn’t the same guy that hung around Mandy, worshipping the ground she walked on. 

 Fucking hell though, Ian Gallagher was definitely more than he seemed to be.

* * *

 Ian was good at keeping up appearances. 

 Here in the South side, his best shot at survival was the element of surprise and he knew it. It’s why he stayed out of trouble as best as he could and always kept his head down. 

 He knew Fiona and Lip suspected there was more to him than the cool exterior, but they still thought he was a helpless kid from the northside whose life got fucked up after a tragedy. 

 And honestly? He wished he was. He wished that the only thing beneath the surface was heartbreak or whatever else they expected. 

 Instead there was anger. The unbidden rage at everything was the foremost of the many different emotions whirling around out of control just under his skin and it was a constant thing. The chaos he felt. 

 It hadn’t let up in the slightest since that day, until he was fighting Mickey. Until he was fucking Mickey and the noise in his head stopped for a little while. 

 Ian didn’t know much about Mandy’s brother, but he knew enough about the family in total and he had seen Mickey being a general pain in the neighborhood. 

 But fuck, until the guy shoved him away and refused a kiss but handed the gun back to him anyway, he didn’t know Mickey was keeping up appearances too.

* * *

 Discovering Mickey Milkovich is the first hope towards regaining sanity that Ian has.

 They’ve already gone from fucking a couple of times a week to once every day and the Gallagher is quickly becoming addicted to the older teen. 

 Regardless of what his day is like, Mickey is the highlight of it. 

 The thug never shows up at the same time or anything, he keeps his visit sporadic, sometimes he shows up when Ian is working, sometimes when he’s hanging out with Mandy and sometimes when he’s in school. 

 But to Ian, it hardly matters when, because the handful of minutes he has the other boy under him are the only times he’s not feeling completely lost. 

 And today was the first time that Mickey actually hung out with him after a fuck. 

 Well, alright maybe that wasn’t true. But Ian was in the Milkovich house, working through his english homework with Mandy when Mickey had walked in. 

 Obviously they’d taken the chance to fuck under the excuse of Ian using the bathroom. When he returns Mandy has pizza bagels and is playing on the xbox. 

 He’s only barely just joined her when Mickey surprises him by taking a seat on his other side and grabbing the controllers from him. 

 It’s the best evening Ian’s had in a long time, Mickey’s proximity and Mandy’s presence making him feel almost comfortable in his own skin again. 

 Like maybe, just maybe he really did belong here with them. 

 Of course that thought is all it takes to jinx his past back into his life.

* * *

 Fiona stares questioningly as Carl leads a tall blonde girl into their kitchen, the stranger easily as old as Fiona herself.   

 “Hey, who’s this?” She asks, straightening up. 

 “I’m Jessica Reed. I’m - uh I used to be Ian’s neighbor. Also his baby sitter actually, but i’m trying to forget that part” comes the friendly answer as the girl holds out a hand. 

 “Right, Fiona. Gallagher.” She returns the introduction, taking the offered hand and trying to keep her surprise out of her face. 

 She isn’t sure why she never expected for anyone from Ian’s past life to come knocking but isn’t given time to think about it much because the girl in front of her is talking. 

 “Before Ian gets here, Can you tell me how he’s holding up?” Jessica asks, her concern shining clear in her eyes. 

 “He’s - quiet. Doesn’t talk about his parents or mention much of -” It’s all she manages before she hears Carl bounding downstairs again, another set of footsteps sounding behind him. 

 Ian is standing frozen on the top step, sight set on Jessica and Fiona thinks she’s not the only one caught off guard by his past. By her side, the other girl plasters on a wide smile, easily pretending as if the conversation they were having never happened.

 “There’s my favorite monkey” Jessica greets, stretching her arms open and entirely unfazed by Ian’s reaction.

 “Jess” He sounds taken aback but quickly makes it down the rest of the way and complies as he wraps his arms around her  “What - how are you here - I mean uh Hi” 

 “Well, it seemed obvious you’d be in the Southside considering” The girl shrugs, Ian quirking an eyebrow at that.

 “I didn’t even know i’d be here” He points out, the older girl rolling her eyes at him.

 “Okay fine, I checked your transcripts to see what corner of the country you transferred to and then felt like an idiot when I realised” She admits, Ian not even fighting a smile at that.  

 Fiona is still too busy watching his expression, she almost completely misses the blonde digging something out of her large handbag. 

 “Peanut butter and chocolate, I even put in the olives in case you aren’t over your freakiness and the crusts are cut off” Jessica grins at Ian as she holds out the sandwich. 

 “I’m fifteen you know” Ian says dryly, but he swipes the offered food readily. 

 “Yes, i’ve seen your porn stash” The Northside girl waves away, dismissing the fact as she rests her hip against the counter and eyes Ian, scanning him like an older sister. 

 “Don’t know what you’re complaining about that for” The redhead throws back and Fiona doesn’t miss the mischief lighting up his eyes for the first time.

 “Oh shut up, I’ll stop cutting off the crusts when you stop sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to watch cartoons”  The girl teases and Ian’s still smiling. 

 “Don’t know what you’re complaining about that for either.” He smirks, not even making an attempt to deny it. 

 “Don’t be so smug. You didn’t discover cartoons or Ice cream” She swats at him and this exchange is the first time the Gallagher girl has ever seen him act like an actual teenager that she can’t help smile too. 

* * *

_“Ian Clayton Gallagher, listen to me. This is the South Side of Chicago. Remember all the stories? This is where your dad started out, he worked on his dreams here and he got them all. So imagine how disappointed he’ll be if you gave up on all of your dreams here of all places”_

  When Jessica Reed showed up at his South side residence, Ian had already known his time off the hook was up. 

 She was more than just a neighbor, having shared fences since before Ian was born, the Reeds were practically family. 

 Ian’s mom had been the first grade teacher for most of the kids on their street and to the whole bunch, after Mrs.G, Jessica was the leader. 

 She was the oldest, she was the one they all looked up to and she was also the only daughter of Ian’s sports coach. It made him especially closer to her, his habit of hanging around her father meaning he spent the most time around her as well. 

 Jessica was the first person who knew he was gay and she was the adult watching Ian and his best friends at the Gallagher house on the evening of the car crash. 

 And seeing her again was like a punch to the gut. It hadn’t started off that bad, she’d kept it casual, asking him about school and his siblings, then complaining about her boyfriend. 

 Still, Ian saw the lecture coming from a mile away and sure enough, she told him about how much his friends missed him, that they were worried and how he should turn on his phone and let them know he was still in the city.

 Then she talked about how he hadn’t signed up for the martial arts tournament this year and how her father had pulled a few strings to get him in late. Telling her he wasn’t going to was what brought things to a head. 

 She had reamed him out on how he was giving up on his dreams, reminded him how much he wanted to keep up his winning streak and how the kid she knew was a fighter before finally she’d told him those words. 

 She’d dared to bring up his father. 

 Now Ian was running, tears blinding his vision and barely realising where his feet were carrying him until he was banging on the Milkovich frontdoor. 

 “I need to see you” He pleads to Mickey the second the older boy appears. 

 “Not a good time” Mickey growls out around a joint, but it doesn’t even register to Ian that they need to be careful. All he can think of is just how much he needs Mickey.

 “I - I don’t know where else to go” He stutters out instead. 

* * *

 Ian is running again. 

 Running because there’s blood on his fingertips and the urge to simply destroy something is so powerful he’s going to need to take it out on some, hopefully inanimate object soon or he’s sure he’s going to explode. 

 Kash shot Mickey. Kash had actually hurt Mickey and Ian had Mickey’s blood on his fingertips and the last time he’d had blood that wasn’t his own on his hand was when his family died. 

 This time though, it wasn’t just literal; figuratively too Ian was at least fifty percent responsible for what happened in the store and he can’t get the image of a hurt and bleeding Mickey out of his head.

 He needs the other boy to be okay. He wishes he can make sure he is. But he can’t even seem to hold himself together right then and feels his very core coming undone. 

 Without Mickey to quell all the out of control emotion though, Ian doesn’t know what to do but somehow ends up in the park. 

 It’s deserted and right around the corner from the Milkovich house and it’s where Ian had shown off his fighting skills to Mandy.

 He remembers when she had insisted they actually fight and while Ian wasn’t the kind of idiot that underestimated a girl, he hadn’t given it his all because he caught sight of Mickey watching them from a distance. 

 It’s also the same day that Mickey had stepped in for his sister when Ian clearly beat her - not without having to focus again though, Mandy fought dirty - and they’d been so turned on by the chance to throw each other around, Ian had half wanted to fuck him right there. 

 Standing in the exact same spot now, he feels none of that relief. The only two things that can relieve his frustration were fighting and fucking and goddamn if he didn’t need Mickey for both of that. 

 Taking it out on a stupid tire hanging off a branch simply did not substitute a Milkovich. 

* * *

 Lip notices right off the bat that Ian isn’t alright. Well, more that he was less alright than whatever passed off as alright for Ian anyway. 

 He’d only just started getting convinced that the younger boy was getting better and suddenly, it seemed like he’s taken ten steps back from the one step of progress he had actually made. 

 Still, considering that had started on the day that girl, Jessica, had shown up, he kept his mouth shut and gave Ian a little space.

 When it doesn’t seem to be working though, he gets his brother alone for a chat. 

 “You doing okay?” He checks, Ian averting his gaze almost immediately. 

 “Lot going on” He mumbles in response and Lip can practically see the weight of it all settling on small shoulders. 

 “Blast from the past huh? Must have been weird” he tries to prod, words cautiously light. 

 “Yeah, that too” Ian answers, like he’s only suddenly remembering his visitor. 

 “What? Something else?” He asks, now more willing to express his curiosity with Ian’s past out of the way. 

 “It’s kinda hard to explain” The redhead answers tentatively, but Lip is ready to push him on it. 

 “Try me” He says confidently, paying complete attention to his brother. 

 “Mickey is gay. And we’re doing it. And Kash shot Mickey because of me. But Mickey would rather go to juvie than admit he’s gay. Also, Kash is gay too so i’m doing both Kash and Mickey. Well, not Kash so much lately. But while Kash and me were hot and heavy, Linda found out about it and she’s blackmailing Kash into having another baby”

 The words tumble out in a rush and Lip can’t do more than stare dumbly at the boy he was so sure he was starting to know. 

 “Holy Shit” is pretty much all he can manage. 

 “Yeah” Ian says distractedly “Think i’m going to go see Mickey today” 

 Lip has absolutely nothing to say to that. 

 His brain is frantically trying to figure out which part of the confession he was supposed to focus on. Mickey Milkovich being gay? Kash being a grown ass man that’s taking advantage of Ian? Ian doing both of them? 

 It settles on Ian in the end. Ian who has been through enough and doesn’t need any more shit to deal with. 

 He’s going to have to work harder to keep the kid safe because he had definitely been wrong about him staying out of trouble in the South Side. 

* * *

 “Thanks for putting money in my commissary account” Is what Mickey opens their conversation with and Ian can hear himself explaining that it was Kash. 

 But his focus isn’t on how long Mickey is going to be in there or the Jello thief the other boy is bitching at. It’s all on how just the very presence of the Milkovich has brought the chaos in his mind to an absolute stand still. 

 “I - I miss you” He confesses abruptly. 

 “You say it again and i’ll rip your tongue outta your head” Mickey threatens and Ian can’t help but smile. 

 It only stretches wider when he sees Mickey’s lips twitching and suddenly he’s reaching forward, placing one hand on the partition between them. 

 “Take your hand off the glass” Comes the immediate warning and Ian still can’t stop smiling.

 “I’m going to sign up for the state championship” Ian surprises himself with his new resolve. 

 “What?” Mickey asks, caught off guard by the sudden change in topic. 

 “Martial arts. You’d like it. I won twice already. I’m going to go back and keep up my streak” He informs  

 “You’re the best Gallagher? What kinda pussies you fighting huh?” The Milkovich smirks. 

 “Well, i’d have a real fight if you got out soon Mick. You’ll believe me when I kick your ass” Ian smirks right back. 

 And he can see Mickey’s time is up, the last thing he hears being the Milkovich scoffing at the possibility. 

“Get out soon” Ian says, just as Mickey puts the phone down on his end and he knows the other boy heard the words, so he’s pretty content when he walks out. 

* * *

 “Hey Fiona?” Ian calls, cornering his sister. 

 “Yeah?” She smiles and he feels a fresh wave of appreciation for her. 

 “What are you smiling at?” She asks him and he realises he’s staring.

 “You.” he admits “I just noticed you’re beautiful when you smile” 

 The older girl blinks, clearly taken aback but Ian can’t help the truth in the statement. 

 He owed a lot to Fiona and Lip, he has known that since the day he started living here, but he never realised he actually truly loved them. What he felt for all five of his siblings had somehow become a lot more than just simple affection. 

 Quickly, he leans forward and kisses her on the cheek and whispers a soft “I love you” 

 “Love you too Kiddo” She promises, welcoming him into the fold like she’d always done. 

 “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m going to sort myself out. I promise” He tells her then. 

 This is not how he had pictured the conversation in his mind when he approached her. He was going to tell her about ROTC and the championship, maybe even mention he was gay, but he realises this is better. 

 “You are?” She asks, evidently surprised. 

 “Yeah. I - I’m not okay. Don’t know if I can be. But i’m at least going to try.” He says quietly, his sister reaching out a hand and squeezing his arm. 

 “Okay.” Fiona nods, there’s a moment of hesitation before she adds “We can’t replace what you lost Ian, but we can try to be your family too” 

 Ian lets himself think of his family for just one fraction of a second, sees his parents smiling and his kid brother making faces at him and it’s all still too raw, too painful. 

 But he thinks of Fiona’s smile and Lip’s arm around his shoulder. And then of Debbie’s chatter and Carl’s strange experiments and Liam reaching out for him from across the room.

 He thinks of Mandy’s warm hugs and of bright blue eyes that speak for Mickey and his smile becomes more earnest.

 “You already are” 


	2. Season 2 AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how easily Ian fits himself into the South Side life, Mickey can see he's not holding up alright.

 Ian Gallagher is sixteen years old and has been living in the South side for a year. Of course, most people have forgotten that fact with time, he’s just woven too deeply into the fabric by now for anyone to care. 

 No one could blame them either; the amount of drama the Gallaghers saw in a year, is more than most people would go through in a lifetime. 

 There was the mess that was Fiona and Steve, the absolute disaster that was Karen Jackson, Frank ending up in toronto, Debbie kidnapping a baby and Carl’s school life in general. 

 Life in this end of Chicago was eventful if nothing else and then there was his own contribution to the chaos - with Mickey and Kash and the shooting he still took part of the blame for. 

 All in all, Last year had been rough and his past life is something he’s running away from still, but at least he’s still here, surviving.

* * *

 

 Lip Gallagher can wrack that genius brain of his all he wants, he still can’t understand how he’d lived a life without Ian. 

 His brother was his partner in crime in everything now. 

 The original feeling of sympathy and protectiveness that had bonded him to the kid no longer defined their relationship. 

 That’s not to say that he didn’t still feel terrible about what had happened to Ian’s family - the redhead still refuses to talk about them and outright locked himself away the first anniversary of their death - or that he didn’t still have a strong urge to keep Ian safe. 

 He did, those two sentiments directed at the other boy were a given but he’d learned, like everyone around Ian had, that he took care of himself without effort. 

 Unlike the first couple of months where the redhead portrayed a controlled image that was too believable, they all knew now that Ian wasn’t okay. He had stopped making the effort to pretend he was. 

 The thing was, Ian now made it clear that he wasn’t fragile, not by a long shot and didn’t appreciate being treated like he was. He wasn’t heartbroken, he was angry. 

 Luckily for them, he was also sane and channelled that anger well. He trained, he ran, he worked out and he no longer had the defenseless puppy look going on. 

 He’d grown taller, stronger and looked every bit like the fighter that no one had pegged him to be. Carl has basically started worshipping the ground the other boy walked on. 

 Truth be told though, seeing Ian fight, it sometimes scared Lip. 

 The boy attacked with a vengeance, every hit, every kick, it came from somewhere deep and he always looked the most relaxed after, like his skin fit comfortably only then. 

 After the state championships ended and Ian had won again - which was surprising considering how very close to disqualification he’d come - Lip had realised his brother was thirsting for more. 

 Now anyone else would have just randomly picked a brawl, but Ian, for all his love for it, was not the type. 

 Which was what brought them here. To the fight night.

 He watched Ian grin at a man twice his size with something dangerous glinting in his eyes. The now taller boy fluidly moved out of the way of the first blow and ducked out of the second, before returning the favor with a quick succession of well aimed punches that had his opponent on the ground in no time.

 Internally Lip wishes this happened before Ian’s growth spurt, they could have made so much more money if no one thought to bet on the floppy haired kid. 

 All the same, that was the last fight for the night and they’d still made more than enough, his little brother was grinning wildly and Mandy Milkovich was dabbing away the blood and sweat on his skin so Lip had nothing to complain about. 

 “So what, Mickey’s out soon yeah?” He starts as the trio walk back home. 

 “In about a week or so, if he doesn’t stab anyone else” Mandy answers, continuing when he shoots her a questioning glance “Plastic fork. Only broke the kid’s skin but bought him another thirty days”

 “You’ve got to be looking forward to having Mickey home again huh?” He asks, the question directed for Ian, who obviously wouldn’t take the bait. 

 “I guess” Mandy answers but he catches green eyes and sees the brightness there and is satisfied with it. 

 Lip knew how much Ian missed the Milkovich boy, didn’t understand it one bit, but it was still the truth. He just supposed he’d write it off as one of Ian’s less sane decisions but have his back anyway. 

* * *

 

 Ian hears Debbie asking Carl about his plans with little Hank for the day, has Lip throwing a towel in his face to let him know the shower is free and is barely at the door before Fiona catches his elbow. 

 “Shirt off” She says, all business and he rolls his eyes as he complies. 

 He stands still and lets her examine the bruises from the fighting, her fingers pressing into skin, testing the tenderness of the flesh before she grabs hold of his chin and turns his face this way and that.

 “You’ll live” His oldest sister decrees. 

 “So will the heat this winter, check the squirrel fund” He smirks. 

 “Don’t let Carl hear you say that. I want him working this time” Fiona answers, swatting at his arm and already heading towards the laundry chute. 

 He watches her go for a moment before locking himself in the bathroom, looking forward to the warm water against his sore muscles. 

 The tension is considerably lower this morning, the knots in his body all loose after last night and if he can keep himself listening to the conversations happening outside the door, he can pretend he doesn’t remember life before this. 

 Problem is, lately, there are a lot of dates that make Ian feel sick.

 The obvious ones are the birthdays and the anniversary of the crash, but there’s more. His parents wedding day, silly things like Father’s day or Mother’s day that his current family doesn’t acknowledge for obvious reasons and then things like his kid brother’s last violin recital and the date they took their last trip.

 If he thinks hard enough, almost everyday there’s something they’d done for the last time, unaware that they’d never get a chance to do it again and he knows this is him torturing himself but he can’t stop; doesnt even know how.

 Sometimes it’s not even about a date though, it’s in Carl’s school bag that has the same reading his brother last had or the flash of Debbie’s redhair and other times it’s Fiona’s cooking and the laundry smelling different.

 He has been running from all that, drowning himself in the South side life but he’s remembering more things to run from each day and has fewer options on where to go.

 His hands run down his lower body, briefly considering a little sexual release before thinking better of it. 

 Kash had taken off a couple of days ago and even though Ian had nothing to do with him since the shooting, he thinks of the person he is actually waiting for. 

 The worst part of the wait for Mickey to be released is over though, there’s just a week left and he managed months with no more than a couple of phone calls, so he can take a few more days. 

 And maybe, once the Milkovich is back, he can find some sense of quiet within himself again. 

* * *

 

 “What is this?” Mandy demands, holding up the information on West Point that he’d stashed into his backpack. 

 “Considering futures” Ian answers, a careless shrug accompanying the words. 

 “Future? That what you call getting blown up in some Stan?” She asks, waving the papers in his face. 

 Ian’s lips quirk slightly as he repeats “Some Stan?” 

 “Oh you know Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraqistan...” She trails off and his smile stretches a bit. 

 “Don’t worry, i’m not going” He assures and Mandy takes a very literal step back as if to study the entire picture he presents better. 

 “So what are these for?” She frowns. 

 “It’s what I wanted before. I thought taking a look at that would make me want it again” He answers, voice hardening. 

 Mandy was the only person he gave honest answers about his past to, mostly because she was the only one that would brush it off and pretend for his sake that they meant nothing. 

 “So, you don’t want to get blown up now?” She checks, handing the papers back. 

 “Don’t know what the fuck I want” He sighs, stuffing the sheets carelessly into his bag again. 

 “Well none of us do shithead, we only just graduated tenth grade. Relax” 

 It’s all Mandy says on the subject, easily moving on to discussing summer plans now that school is finally out.

* * *

 

  Gallagher was weaker now. 

 It’s the first thing Mickey can think when he sees firecrotch standing outside the juvie gates with Mandy. 

 It’s not an assumption Mickey makes based on the almost healed bruise on his face and it’s not like he doesn’t notice or appreciate the lean muscle the redhead had packed in his absence. 

 There’s just something wrong, a new desperation that Mickey can see in the green eyes that catch his gaze far too many times. 

 He still smirks when he notices Mickey checking him out, fucks like he’s possessed once they make it to the dugouts later that night and looks like a smug fucking bastard after, just like always. 

 But Mickey can tell there’s more. It’s on the tip of his tongue to ask the kid to cut the bullshit rambling and tell him what’s going on, not because he cares but because he needs it out of the way. (At least that’s what he tells himself)

 Instead Gallagher is asking him to work in the place he got shot at and Mickey is actually fucking agreeing, because it gets his probation skank off his ass, towelhead is gone and he gets free fucks anytime he wants. 

 Repeating those lies in his head and keeping his mind stubbornly off the constant contact Gallagher had forced him to maintain during his stint in juvie, he pushes down the question he wants to ask. 

 If something was going on with the kid, he’d know soon enough. It looked like he was stuck working with him for a while now anyway. 

* * *

 

 It’s just Ian and Mickey in the store now and they are completely at ease with one another. 

 The ice blue eyes and incredibly pale skin, the sight of a tongue that swipes out way too many times to wet lips that are literally begging to be kissed all has everything in Ian hollering for just a little more time with the Milkovich. 

 He knows he’s getting greedy, until last week, he hadn’t seen the other boy in months and now they work together for hours every day and easily fuck a few times a day and still he’s not satisfied. 

“You want to hang out?” He asks suddenly and Mickey looks up from his magazine.

“What are you talking about Gallagher?” He questions, eyes taking in the hopeful expression on the younger boy’s face. 

“You know, just... hang out and do something after we close?” Ian offers, trying and failing to sound casual about it. 

“You want a fucking date or something firecrotch? Cuz us banging don’t mean -” Mickey begins, the redhead rolling his eyes and leaning away from the counter at the all too expected reaction.

 “I just meant like shooting a few rounds or kicking your ass in Call of Duty, jesus” Ian shakes his head “I said hang out didn’t I?”

 “You ever seen fuck buddies hanging out tough guy?” Mickey changes tactics, not raising to the bait because he knows Gallagher doesn’t have a hope of actually beating him at the game.

 “Thought we were friends with benefits” Ian muses, the answer not at all what the Milkovich expected.

 Still, it makes him consider that concept for a bit. He doesn’t generally have friends but it’s not like he hasn’t already hung out with Gallagher before so he supposes that yeah, they were friends. 

 “What you got in mind?” He finally shrugs and there’s a shit eating grin on the other boy’s face that Mickey absolutely wants to be annoyed at. 

 He just really isn’t though. 

* * *

 

 Being with Mickey has the bloodlust in Ian fading fast, whatever little bit of frustration he has left taken away during their fucks. 

 It has him relaxed and his mind wandering from trying to make sense of his own life to what’s been going on with his siblings. 

 He isn’t worrying about Lip much, the guy is still obsessed with his Jody and Karen’s relationship. Ian would call him out on spending so much energy on a fuck buddy, but he doesn’t want it thrown back in his face. 

 Fiona and Mandy are both sleeping with the wrong men and Carl is trying to dissect living things now, but none of that really affects his mental welfare. 

 No, what actually sends him back into a downward spiral is surprisingly Debbie and her new obsession with death. 

 “Nineteen people died in Chicago yesterday” She informs from above the edges of the newspaper. 

 Ian’s been trying his best to not let the black she wears and all the random facts she’s spouting about the abruptness and devastation of death to not get to him. 

 But it’s getting increasingly difficult. 

 “Yeah, people die Debbie.” he snaps and the room around him goes silent. 

 All the rest of his siblings are watching him now and suddenly he’s walking out, slamming the door behind him as he goes. 

* * *

 

 Debbie suddenly feels like an idiot. 

 She was so wrapped up in the first death she’d seen that she entirely forgot how sensitive Ian would be to it. 

 “I - I didn’t mean to - “She stammers, looking towards Fiona. 

 “We know Debs” Her sister assures, but there’s worry in her face and frustration in Lip’s and Debbie can feel her heart sinking a bit more. 

“He never talks about them” She says in a small voice, thinking of how there’s not even a photo of Ian’s other family anywhere. 

 “Death isn’t about the people who are gone. It really happens more to the people around them” Lip tells her, words grave and utterly serious but she isn’t sure she understands. 

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” The remaining redhead in the room questions, confusion clear as she looks between her two older siblings. 

 Neither of them look ready to explain though, instead they just offer her weak smiles and a consoling pat on the shoulder. 

 “Just don’t mention this around Ian again okay?” Fiona sighs. 

 “Should have thought of that sooner” Lip mutters, clearly blaming himself for not having paid closer attention. 

 “What did you mean?” Debbie presses, not ready to let her brother go just yet. 

 “Debs, Let it -” Lip begins before noticing her expression and pausing “When a person dies Debbie, they kinda just go six foot under. Job over. They get to sleep forever down there. The people that loved them? They are the ones that have to deal with the loss and the pain and everything. It hurts the living not the ones that are gone”

 She’s still processing the words as Lip walks away and then thinks of Ian again. 

 She knows it wasn’t just his parents, it was also his younger brother that he lost and tries to imagine Carl gone, tries to think of no one there to mutilate her dolls or steal her food and annoy her in general and finds she really can’t. 

 But Ian didn’t have the choice did he? He couldn’t stop imagining because to him, it was real. 

 All Debbie can do is throw herself at Fiona and cry for her brother. 

* * *

 

 Ian doesn’t know how his feet end up leading him to the Milkovich house again but he isn’t all that surprised really. What was a house of horrors to even the people that lived in it, was actually a safe harbor for him. 

 “Fuck you doing here?” Mickey greets in true fashion. 

 “Need to get shitfaced” Ian says bluntly, already pushing his way past the other boy and letting himself in. 

 Mickey stares after the redhead for a brief moment and does the one thing he can think of, he hollers for his sister. A cursing Mandy makes an appearance a few seconds later, stopping short at the sight of her best friend. 

 “Ian?” Her surprise distracts her from her brother. 

 “I don’t want to be able to remember my own name” Gallagher tells her, voice absolutely dead and Mickey can see the wheels in Mandy’s head already turning. 

 It only takes her two seconds before she’s nodding and redirecting her attention to Mickey “Well you joining us or fucking off assface?”

* * *

 

 Mickey knows Ian’s story. He’s a little vague on the details but the basics were quite simple. Northside kid that got booted down here after a personal tragedy. 

 He’d never given it a thought. Had taken an effort not to actually because the one time he’d made an offhand comment about fancy upbringing, Gallagher had stopped midfuck and simply zipped himself up and walked away. 

 Mickey had known immediately that the topic was off limits, probably the only unspoken rule from firecrotch’s side of things and he hadn’t poked his nose any deeper than that. 

 It’s probably why he was so shocked at the alcohol induced words spilling out of Ian barely three beers in.

 “You know what happens when people die? Boxes. They get put in boxes. Tinier the box, more fucked up it is” 

 Mickey had barely been buzzed at that point, not trying to get smashed like the younger boy and therefore not in a hurry, so the words got through pretty well and sobered him entirely. 

 No matter what morals a south sider had or didn’t have, even they could agree kids didn’t belong in coffins. It made him wonder what Gallagher really lost, did he have a kid sibling that died? 

 He wasn’t sure but going by Mandy’s sudden decision to bring out the good weed, he could already tell he was right. 

 Ian hadn’t spoken again after that and neither Milkovich in the room made an effort to really get high, just settled to watch the other boy get trashed for the first time in his life. 

 Of course a few hours later, Mickey had helped his sister shift the passed out kid into his bed, the fact that his room was the only one with a bathroom being the only excuse he needed, Gallagher was going to be throwing up when he finally came around anyway.

 Mandy had left after she decided she should probably let the Gallaghers know where their brother was and tell them he probably wasn’t going to be making it back anytime before tomorrow evening.

 So now Mickey was standing alone in his room, looking down at the unconscious boy in his bed with more emotion than he was comfortable dealing with, but unable to run from it - unable to run from Ian. 

* * *

 

 Ian feels like he finally understands why they call it getting hammered, his head definitely felt like it had been bashed in one too many times. 

 He’d woken up in the early hours of the morning, Mandy’s arm still wrapped around his middle but he knew it was definitely Mickey’s bed he was in. 

 That was a fact he was storing away for later though because right now all he could manage was to crawl into the bathroom and try to not throw up his intestines. 

 He’s not sure how long he’s been bent over the toilet but Mickey can tell you it’s been forty minutes of silent hovering on his part. 

 Ian is more than a little startled by the hand that appears on his shoulder, even more so when he finds it’s attached to the youngest Milkovich son. 

 Mickey is looking down on wide green eyes that stare at him like he is the salvation instead of  the glass of water and medicine strip that he holds out in Gallagher’s direction.

 “Mick” The soft exhale almost sounds like a prayer as Ian slumps down on the dirty tiles, instinctually reacting to Mickey’s presence. 

 “It’s gonna be a bitch of a hangover but you’ll be fucking fine” Mickey finds himself saying, the words almost a demand for the younger boy to tell him that yeah, he was going to be alright. 

 “Yeah... yeah, i’ll be fine” Ian assures in a croak, never one to disappoint and Mickey simply nods before wordlessly stalking out of the room.

* * *

 

 When Ian returns home around dinner time, a whole day after he’d snapped at Debbie and left, he’s greeted by the younger girl rushing into his arms.

 It throws him off to see the blur of red that latches on to his middle, the action a painful reminder of the only other redhead sibling he had had. 

 Still, he manages to convince his sister that he was fine and even apologised for walking out on her like that and life settles back into the familiar pattern. 

 There’s a sleepover for Debbie’s friends that doesn’t go so well and there’s a little concern about Fiona being a homewrecker and a dozen other things happen that Mickey pretends he doesn’t listen to Gallagher talk about. 

 They spend almost every free hour together these days, Ian always hanging out at the Milkovich house, either there after he and Mickey closed up at the store or because Mandy had made plans with the redhead. 

 And the warmer summer got, the more Ian slipped out of home at night to meet up in the baseball field, fucking in the dugouts and simply existing together after. 

 Of course, when things started to look up though, Ian should have known there was another curve ball waiting around the corner.

 It’s how his life worked these days.

* * *

 

 “Grammy?” he asks, freezing in the doorway the second he spotted his family gathered around the familiar face of his grandmother. 

 “Ian?” The older woman looks equally surprised “Clayton finally stop being a pussy about letting his son run down southside?”

 Ian tries to remember how it never occurred to him to tell the woman what had happened and now he can’t seem to will his body to move or his brain to function. 

 “Well don’t just stand there, come give your grammy a hug. Not like you missed two prison visits already” She urges, holding out her arms and Ian mechanically moves to oblige. 

 It’s definitely the first hug hes giving the woman, despite having regularly visited her twice a year in prison. It was probably because she was the only grandparent that Ian had growing up but his father always insisted on the bi-annual visits that he now wonders if he should have kept up. 

 “Where’s that shadow of yours huh?” Comes the next question as soon as he’s released. 

 He’d feel guilty about not having thought to tell her before, but this is the first direct mention of his brother in over a year and it feels like someone’s twisting a knife he’s somehow forgotten was buried in him to the hilt. 

 “Dead” He says in a monotone, avoiding seeing the woman’s shock “There was an accident. Drunk semi driver. Mom and - “ 

 Ian chokes, unable to bring himself to say the younger boy’s name just yet “Dad was the only one that made it to the hospital, he died three days later. Sorry”

 Behind him he can hear Fiona’s gasp and Lip’s eyes are bugging out at his side, he’s never shared those details before. 

 “No...No, not Clayton” Grammy looks like she’d been hit by the truck herself, her breath coming out in struggled gasps. 

 “Sorry, I should have told you. It’s been over a year” Ian says, voice flat but miraculously steady.

 He knows his father was Grammy’s favorite son and that she was definitely going to break down, problem is, Ian still hasn’t. Not once in all this time. 

 And he doesn’t want to start now, not when he’s so sure he’s not going to be able to pull himself back together if he does. 

 So he simply turns around and runs. 

* * *

 

 "Who the fuck is banging at my door?” Terry Milkovich growls as he answers the door and the redhead in front of him shrinks backwards visibly. 

 “Uh - Mandy. I’m looking for Mandy” Debbie manages, looking up into the intimidating man. 

 He simply studies her for a second before grunting with disinterest and turning back around, leaving the door open for the Gallagher girl. 

 “Get Mandy” he barks at one of his sons, Debbie eyeing the many Milkovich’s gathered in the room warily. 

 “Bitch is still passed out” One of them calls but Mickey seems to shoot out of his seat and swagger past, motioning for Debbie to follow him. 

 The younger girl is relieved at the thought of Ian maybe having passed out with the Milkovich girl again, though she doesn’t understand how he can even stand to be here, everyone in the house was scary. 

 When Mickey pushes the door open to his sister’s room though, there’s only Mandy lying in bed. 

 “Ian’s not here” She says, worry bubbling back up. 

 “What?” Mickey demands even as Debbie hesitantly moves forward to shake Mandy by the arm. 

 “He uh - he left yesterday. We thought he was with Mandy but she didn’t answer her phone and -” It’s all she gets out before Mickey takes over the attempt of waking Mandy up. 

 It takes a while and turns out to be a waste of time when Mandy admits she was out with her girlfriends yesterday and hasn’t seen Ian. 

 Mickey had been out on a drug run with his father and brothers too and from what he can gather, Ian left after their grammy showed and hasn’t been home since lunch yesterday. 

 The Gallaghers hadn’t tried looking for him until now because they thought he was with Mandy. Debbie had only come over because she had wanted to check and make sure he was here since he didn’t show up to work. 

 Of course the asshole would pull a stunt like that the two days Mickey wasn’t working. 

 God fucking damnit. 

* * *

 

 It takes him absolutely no time to find Gallagher and kick him hard on his side. 

 “Mickey?” Ian’s voice is groggy from sleep and his hands are bruised from however long he spent punching at the sand bag he had hauled into the empty warehouse. 

 “Your sister showed up trying to find you with Mandy” He informs bluntly and Ian sits up with a confused frown. 

 “What?” He asks, clearly he has no idea how long he’s been gone. 

 “The fuck you running from a fucking old lady for anyway?” Mickey sighs then, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to figure out why he even cared about this kid. 

 “Oh” Ian’s realisation catches on then, the previous day filtering its way back into his mind as he slumped back down, head against his knees. 

 “Couldn’t see how she was taking the news” He mumbled from under his arms. 

 “What fucking news man?” Mickey is tired of this shit and it shows in his voice, not that Gallagher takes any fucking notice of that. 

 “She didn’t know about the car crash, I forgot to tell her” Ian answers, looking up at where the Milkovich was leaning back against a wall. 

 “Fuck” The older teen straightens up, not having expected that particular answer. 

 “Yeah” Ian’s voice is quiet and the silence that follows is deafening. 

 Mickey wasn’t the type to do the talking it out and hugging bullshit, hell he wasn’t even the find the runaway sad kid type but here he was. 

 “Jacob” The soft word startles him back into reality. 

 “What?” The Milkovich asks, quirking an eyebrow at the other boy who was looking him directly in the eye. 

 “My kid brother, his name is - was - Jake. Jacob Samuel Gallagher” Ian repeats, voice breaking and fresh blood surfacing on his skin where he was clenching his injured hands. 

 Mickey swallows hard, a thumb rubbing at the corner of his mouth, unsure of what to say even though it doesn’t look like Ian is expecting anything. 

 “I haven’t said his name till now. I couldn’t make myself.” 

 Mickey decides right then that he hates the tonelessness of Gallagher’s voice. 

 “Shit man” Is all he whispers in return before they fall right back into the heaviest silence possible.

* * *

 

  There’s a lull of a few good days again, Ian actually spending time with his dying grandmother while he wasn’t working and putting in the most effort at taking care of her. 

 It’s not like he has any heavy duty chores, the old woman was always making Frank do those but Ian still liked to give her a few hours of his time whenever he can.

 Then of course, today had to happen. Gnashing his teeth together, Ian made his way up the stairs to find Frank. 

 “Mickey’s upset” He begins “He thinks you are going to tell people what you saw”

 Frank uses the chance to thrust the plate of food he had been in the process of taking to his mother in Ian’s direction. 

 “I’m serious” Ian tries again “Keep the money, i’ll pay Linda back myself”

 The older Gallagher man simply ignores him, walks away rambling about something else and Ian can feel the tension building. 

 He should have known they’d get caught at some point and he definitely should have known how Mickey would take it. 

 Frustrated, he walked into Grammy’s room, placing the plate on the table by her bed and ready to hightail it out of there. 

 “You’re sticking it to Mickey Milkovich?” The woman asks, making him freeze.

“It’s - uh - Grammy I -” Ian swears he was good at thinking on his feet once but can’t come up with shit right now. 

 “I look like I care about that?” She snorts and Ian can’t help but sigh. 

 “Guess Mickey won’t either, at least I don’t think he’ll want to kill you for it too” He says dryly, the woman was already half dead anyway. 

 “Fucking Milkovichs. Always like to solve their problems with body bags. Damn good way to do it too” Peggy Gallagher informs, clearly more approving than most people would be. 

 “No one really knows about it” Ian shuffles on his feet, uncomfortable even though he knows she’ll keep the secret. 

 “I ain’t gonna run my mouth boy. But if a Milkovich wants Frank gone, think you should take the chance to get rid of that waste of space instead of warning him” Comes the advice. 

 “Don’t give a fuck about Frank. Just don’t want Mickey getting thrown back into Juvie” Ian confesses with a shrug. 

 This time his grandmother fixes him with a long probing glance that has his ducking out of the room with a useless excuse on his tongue. 

* * *

 

  Peggy Gallagher watches her redhead grandson, eyes not missing the fact that he was visibly more upset now than he was before. She had seen her idiot son only two hours ago so she knows it’s not like Frank croaked and Ian was feeling bad about it, no, this had to do with Milkovich. 

 It’s why she forces Ian to get her out of the house even though it’s getting dark, the younger boy obliging wordlessly. 

 “You’re a pussy” She informs him when they’re almost at the bar. 

 Ian’s eyes glance her way questioningly even as she continues to complain “I’ve got to spoonfeed sense into your head like I did my son.” 

 The green eyes flicker away from her face at the mention of Clayton, but Peggy came here with a job in mind and so she pulls a tire iron she borrowed from Carl from where she had stashed it under her wheelchair. 

 “You don’t want Milkovich going to juvie killing Frank, you gotta take care of the problem first” She informs him, startling him into looking at her again. 

 Ian’s gaping openly at the tire iron in her hand and blinks at her with obvious disbelief. 

 “Not asking you to fucking kill him. Knock him out a few days, your boyfriend calms down, all is gold. Now go” She urges, handing the makeshift weapon in his direction. 

 “Uh grammy I don’t -” Ian tries to protest.

 “You be a pussy about this, this will have your blood instead of Frank’s” She threatens and Ian’s lips quirk up slightly even as she warns “Don’t let him see it was you”

 Ian simply nods and the pair of them find Frank without effort, the older woman wheeling her chair, keeping an eye out as her grandson steps up behind an evidently drunk Frank. 

 It takes Ian less than three minutes to knock Frank out enough to be sure he won’t wake up for a five days at the least and he’s just about to leave the man lying in the pavement when Peggy catches sight of three Milkovich’s headed their way. 

 “You boys take off your stupid masks and go the fuck home” She orders, watching with exasperation as two boys strip off their masks and stare at Frank’s unmoving form. 

 She doesn’t miss Mickey Milkovich focusing his entire attention on her grandson. 

“Gallaghers take care of our problems ourselves, don’t need you morons doing it” She insists, waving a hand at the two boys flanking Mickey to leave. 

 They seem to wait a second, looking at her clearly impressed before shrugging and walking away, leaving her alone with only Ian and Mickey staring at each other. 

 “Well?” She demands of her grandson who seems to snap out of his daze. 

 He deposits the tire iron into her lap and takes the back of her chair, ready to wheel her away. 

 “Leave him there, call an ambulance I don’t fucking care. Just didn’t think a warm mouth is worth going to juvie over twice” Ian deadpans before the two Gallaghers leave Mickey standing alone, Peggy making a noise of derision at what she’d heard. 

 Those two boys weren’t just fucking, it was all over their faces. Ah, the stupidity that comes with teenage hormones. 

 Whatever, she’ll let them sort that one out themselves. There’s only so much an old woman can do. 

* * *

 

 Mickey feels like a fucking idiot. 

 He’d say he knows he overreacted but he really hadn’t, his father definitely wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him. 

 Still, Frank is out for the count now and it’s a miracle he still has a job, he hadn’t expected Gallagher to cover for him to Linda. 

 He thinks it’s the worst possibly thing that could have happened though because not only is the redhead not speaking a word or so much as looking in his direction, but Mickey is stuck inside the small area of the store with him the whole time. 

 It’s driving him crazy and it’s only really been one week.

 Not having a clue and knowing this wasn’t the kind of problem he could go to his brothers for help, he scrounges up all of his courage and goes to Mandy instead. 

 “What do you want assface?” She asks the minute he’s in her room. 

 “Wear some fucking clothes” he snaps at her, his nerves already making him edgy. 

 “You’re in my room douchebag” She throws back, not making an effort to move a muscle. 

 “Just put on some fucking clothes, Jesus!” he swears at her and this is obviously not the best idea if he wants her help. 

 “The fuck do you even want?” Mandy demands, begrudgingly pulling on a too long t-shirt that’s bothering him more than her state of undress considering it’s Ian’s. 

 “What do you do if you said the wrong kind of shit to the person you are fucking?” Mickey asks, eyes set steadily on a crack in the wall behind his sister’s head. 

 “What you piss off some fat chick now Mickey?” She taunts and goddamnit, he knew this was a bad idea. 

 “Fucking answer the question bitch” He snaps, ignoring the shit eating grin on her face that somehow also looks like it belongs to Gallagher. 

 “Depends on what you said shithead” She shrugs, lighting up a cigarette and pushing past him, motioning for him to follow. 

 Grinding his teeth together, he trails after “Might have said something about being a warm mouth”

 In front of him, his sister stops abruptly and whirls around “You called her a warm mouth? To her fucking face? What kinda special asshole are you?”

 “What the fuck ever. I was pissed. Just tell me what to fucking do about it already” He bitches at her, feeling a headache building even before she snorts. 

 “Find another fat chick” Mandy says bluntly. 

 “What?” He asks, taken aback. 

 “If she’s a warm mouth and you already told her that to her face, fucking find another one cuz you ain’t getting the bitch back. Jesus, you’re an asshole” The Milkovich girl declares and yeah, alright he’s regretting asking her. 

 Should have known she wouldn’t help. 

 “And what? Put up with shit until it gets old. Tell me another way bitch” Mickey presses, because really, there has to be something. 

 “You try telling her you didn’t mean it?” Mandy questions and when he looks away, rounds on him again. “Are you fucking telling me you didn’t even have the balls to say you’re fucking sorry Mickey?”

 Mickey can’t do more than grunt in response to that. 

* * *

 

 “You’re lucky” Ian says abruptly. 

 It’s the first thing he’s said to Mickey in ten days and the Milkovich snaps his head up so fast, he can feel himself get a whiplash from the movement. 

 “What?” He asks, too taken aback by Gallagher talking to listen to what he said. 

 “What you told Mandy. I was going to tell her about how much of an asshole this guy i’ve been fucking is but she told me how much of one her brother was. Imagine that” Ian practically drawls, eyes watching keenly for a reaction. 

 Predictably enough, Mickey’s eyes widened. Obviously he realised how close a slip up that had been. Sure, Mandy was oblivious to everything around her but even she would put together two and two if Mickey and Ian had both told her two sides of the same story. 

 “Look Gallagher -” He begins, not sure where he was going with it yet but having to say something. 

 “You don’t want to be boyfriend-girlfriend, that’s fucking up to you. Not asking you to make us exclusive or whatever. But I’m not okay being someone’s warm mouth or fuck buddy alright? Next time, you either remember the concept of friends with benefits or find someone that doesn’t need you to” 

 It’s the last Ian says on the subject and Mickey doesn’t do more than just nod.

* * *

 

 Monica sweeping back in town after Grammy dies makes Ian hide away with the Milkovichs more, not that it does him any good whatsoever. 

 He is just about to escape away to school when she catches him. 

 “Ian baby, I’ve hardly seen you” She says, pulling him into a tight hug. 

 “Have my midterm” He mumbles, trying to free himself. 

 “Well, that’s okay. But we’ve got more important things to do today” Monica is speaking even as she tugs his backpack free from his grasp. 

 “I really need -” Ian doesn’t even get to finish the sentence before she shushes him. 

 “Frank says you haven’t been to visit your family” Monica urges and Ian snaps his mouth shut, disbelieving that she could actually be saying that. 

 “They’re dead Monica” He informs coldly. 

 “I know sweetie, I know” She agrees sadly “But we have to see them, get some flowers. They’ll like that yeah?” 

 “I - I can’t. I’m not ready” He protests. 

 “You’ll never be baby. You just need to go anyway. I’ll be right there. It’ll be alright. You’ll see” Monica promises and Ian can feel himself breathing hard even as he allows her to tug him along. 

 It’s actually surprising to find she is right, it’s not the worst thing going back to the Northside. Not really. 

* * *

 

 He’s not unused to having a Milkovich looking for him in school. Mickey shows up when he’s bored and horny, Mandy is with him almost every class and she hadn’t shown up to school today, so his money was initially on her. 

 Of course he couldn’t have been more wrong though because Terry fucking Milkovich is looking for him and all Ian barely manages to get away in time. 

 “You’re a fucking dead man” Mickey growls at him when Ian gives up his attempts of finding an apparently pregnant Mandy and goes back to the store. 

 “Oh come the fuck on, you know it’s not mine!” Ian snaps, already on edge and not in the mood to humor one Milkovich when another one is out for his blood. 

 Mickey backs away from where he slammed Ian into the alley wall behind the store and rubs at the corner of his mouth. Yeah, he hadn’t really thought it was Gallagher’s, but he had to check. 

 “Any idea who she’s been fucking?” He asks instead and all Ian can do is raise a shoulder in a weak imitation of a shrug. 

“So i’m dead if I can’t convince your dad it’s not mine and I’m dead if I tell him i’m gay, which is the only way I can convince him i’ve never slept with my girlfriend of two years.” Ian summarises and is surprised when Mickey actually lets out a shaky breath at that. 

 “Fuck.” he exhales “Get her to tell you who knocked her up man”

 “I never thought of that Mick. thanks” Ian snipes, Mickey sighing at that. 

 “Then fucking lay low alright?” The brunet warns before stalking off, his shift at the job entirely forgotten. 

* * *

 

 Ian could have taken Mickey’s advice, sure. But Lip had another option and he’s jumped at it because planting evidence and getting Terry Milkovich thrown into the slammer was as good a deed as any. 

 He’d expected Mandy to still be in her aunt’s house and Mickey had collections to get to, so when Terry walked away from the house, he’d been sure the coast was clear.  

 Still, there’s a reason no one except Ian and Lip would ever be dumb enough to break into the Milkovich house and the reason was they’d end up in gun point in three seconds flat. 

 Terry’s gun was only just lowered from his face when Mandy raised hers to Lip’s. 

 “Another word and I’ll blow your brains into the fucking linoleum” She threatens. 

 “Yeah and who’s gonna blow his fucking brains out?” A new voice joins in and Ian’s heart jumps into his throat at the sight of Mickey glaring at his father with searing hatred. 

 “Mandy dad? MANDY?” Mickey is screaming, his actions barely registering with his brain as he launches himself at his father. 

 He lands two good punches before Terry throws him off and pounces on his son, Ian’s only barely managed to get in the middle, trying to get Terry off Mickey when a gunshot rings loud. 

 “Leave him the fuck alone” Mandy snarls, gun back to being pointed at her father. 

 He barely removes himself from Mickey when Ian reaches down to the bleeding boy, only to be shoved away roughly. 

 “You killed mom and now you want Mandy?” Mickey snarls, standing back up in front of his father. 

 Evidently some sort of line was crossed because Terry has Mickey pinned to the ground again and Mandy has dropped the gun in shock and Ian has Lip tugging at his jacket so they can get the fuck out of this place. 

 Except he can’t. He cannot just leave Mickey. 

 It’s the stupidest possible thing anyone could have done but Ian grabs the gun Mandy dropped and puts it at Terry’s head. 

* * *

 

 They’re running. 

 All four of them are jumping fences and taking off down the street as fast as they possibly can because when Terry Milkovich screams get the fuck out before I shoot one of you, you tend to listen. 

 They go as far away as they can, Ian only stopping when he sees Mickey falling behind.

 When he slows down though Lip follows suit and Mandy is whirling back around as she starts screaming bloody murder. 

 “What the fuck? What the actual fuck? Are you fucking insane? Who attacks dad? Who the fuck does that? And you put a fucking gun to his head. Jesus fuck!! You fucking assholes”

 Mickey is leaning slumped against the alley wall, Ian directly opposite the smaller boy. Lip has his hands on his knees and is panting heavily while Mandy looks ready to shake apart now that she’s done screaming. 

 They can’t speak. No one actually knows what to say. 

 Ian knows touching Mickey now, even to check his injuries would be like setting off a grenade so he turns his attention to Mandy instead. 

 “When did you get home?” he asks her. 

 “Last night” She admits, Ian not bringing himself to do more than nod.

 “He drinks and mistakes me for mom” Mandy finally explains “Only once in a while, not like it’s a big deal”

 Unlike Mickey whose face has shut off completely, Ian wears an expression of horror and pity that’s reflected on Lip’s face as well and it seems to piss off the Milkovich girl. 

 “What’s that fucking look on your face?” She snaps “A Gallagher looking down on me? I don’t think so”

 “Why did he think it was Ian?” Lip asks instead.

 “Black’s out. Forgets.” She shrugs before glaring at the older Gallagher “You better keep your mouth shut”

 “He will” Ian promises before his brother can say something stupid. 

 “I just wish the whole thing will go away” Mandy sighs, finally leaning against a wall herself. 

 “We can make it” Ian answers without missing a heartbeat. 

 “You got six hundred dollars lying around?” She asks, a bitter smile on the edge of her lips.

 “We can raise it” Ian tells her. 

 Mickey’s blank expression finally falls away as both of the older boys look at Ian with shock, Mandy joining them with an incredulous look. 

 “The money, not the baby” He corrects because jesus, how dumb did they think he was exactly? 

 “You’d do that?” Mandy is the first to recover as she steps into his space.

 “You’re my girlfriend” Ian half smiles, reaching for her waist even as she leans forward to press their foreheads together. 

 Mickey can only watch as Mandy finally wraps herself in Ian’s arms and allows herself the weakness that he’s only otherwise seen when she sneaks into his bed in the middle of the night. 

 “Great, so first order of things, we need a new scam now. Any ideas?” Lip asks after a few moments, already signing up to help because obviously if Ian was involved, so was the older Gallagher.  

 “How about getting Mickey cleaned up first?” Ian speaks, eyes catching Mickey’s no problem. 

  His injuries weren’t that bad, he had definitely had worse from his father. A broken nose and a couple of bruises were practically the equivalent of a papercut in the life of a Milkovich. 

 “Try getting Mickey out of the fucking town” Mandy says, her own gaze finally finding her brother. “The fuck were you even thinking shithead?” 

 “Fuck off” Mickey brushes away her concern and silent gratitude both. 

 “You need to lay low for a while Mick” She insists, letting go of Ian and moving in his direction. “He’s not going to forget what you said, not until he’s finished with a few benders” 

 “Yeah? You wanna be alone for that shit?” He demands, knowing Mandy was one breath away from asking him to go stay with some cousin and not return for a few months. 

 “I’ll stay away from home too. But you need to skip out of here for a couple of months” She insists predictably. 

 “He wants to find me, he’s gonna fucking find me. Now we gonna worry about getting you the money or what?” Mickey asks, once again attempting to redirect this conversation from him. 

 “If it’s Mandy you’re worried about Mick, I’ve got her” Ian promises, completely earnest and right in Mickey’s face. 

 “I’ve got an idea for a fundraiser” Lip offers. 

 Mickey hardly hears Lip though because suddenly, he’s in awe of the redhead. Not only did the guy have no problem stepping up to protect Mandy, he had pointed a gun at Terry Milkovich just to make him stop beating Mickey to a pulp. 

 If there’s anyone he’s trusting with his life or Mandy’s it was going to be the ginger in front of him. 

 He considers it for a moment, because his sister was right. When their dad went on his bender tonight, Mickey was going to be his sole target. 

 Before he can completely consider his options though, he spots the police car parked out on the main street beyond the alley, the cops standing outside the coffee shop obviously on their break. 

 His eyes flick from Ian to Mandy and back to Ian again, already straightening up and sauntering forward. 

“Where the fuck are you going?” His sister asks as the two Gallaghers stare at him. 

 Simply flipping the trio off, Mickey reaches the pair of cops with a broad smile and punches the closest guy in the face. 

 If he was going to be safe anywhere, it was going to be juvie.

* * *

 

 Ian is back to sitting on one side of the glass partition 

 The fundraiser had gone well and Mandy had already had her abortion last week. He’d gone to the clinic with her and stayed with her through the aftermath.

 Lip had fucked off after Karen’s baby turned out to be Asian with down syndrome and Monica had slit her wrists at dinner last night. 

 His family was mostly reeling from the shock of both events and stupidly, all Ian can think of is this would all be so much better if Mickey were here. 

 He understood why he did what he did but Ian had really not wanted the other boy to end up in there a second time. 

 Lip had shrugged it off and asked him to get used to the Milkovich being in and out of the system because it’s just the way of life for anyone with that last name.

 With a weary sigh and feeling a like he’d aged twenty years in just the last two years, Ian waited for Mickey to show up. 

 “You again Gallagher?” The older teen sounded confused. Ian had been in to see him only five days ago tell him Mandy’s problem was taken care of. 

 “Hey Mick” Ian manages to find a half smile somewhere in himself. 

 “Tell me you ain’t here cuz of thanksgiving or some shit because all you’ll be thanking after is the broken bones i’m -” Mickey is threatening and the smile on Ian’s face stretches slightly. 

 “I know there’s nothing to be thankful for right now” He answers with the kind of sadness that immediately pulls at even Mickey’s guarded heart strings. 

 “The fuck happened?” he asks, concern seeping into his words. 

 “Monica slit her wrists at Thanksgiving dinner last night” Ian answers, getting the constricting words out a relief by itself. 

 “Fuck” Mickey breathes, eyes going wide because he’d known shit had gone down just looking at firecrotch, but this was another level. 

 “Yeah. And Karen’s baby isn’t Lip’s. He’s asian” Ian laughs humorlessly.

 Mickey remains silent, studying the boy in front of him until he finally asks “How are you doing?” 

 “Nothing new.” he shrugs. 

 “Yeah? Anyone stealing your jello this time?” Ian teases. 

 “No one fucks with my Jello” Mickey immediately growls out, glad to see the smile return, even if only for a minute. 

 It’s strange, Mickey knows it is. But even after everything that had happened, he was used to seeing Ian with a smile. Granted he wasn’t entirely carefree or happy or anything, but there was still a smile. 

 There would always be a smile for Mickey. 

 Either it was the shit eating grin or a smug smirk or at the very least, it was the indulging, I see through your bullshit but i’m gonna pretend I didn’t smile and he liked all of those.

 He liked that Gallagher was always glad to see him, even if no one else ever was. 

 It’s why seeing him now, looking so exhausted had Mickey worried that South side was starting to properly creep into Gallagher, like it was weighing him down. 

 “So if I don’t stab anyone, I might get let out early for good behavior or some shit” He tosses out carelessly

 Mickey’s casual words have the intended effect and finally Gallagher brightens up. 

 “Yeah? Shouldn’t be a problem too. Like you said, no one is fucking with your jello”

 Ian’s words are light but Mickey can see the obvious desperation in his eyes and resolves that yeah, he was getting out first chance he got. 

 The kid wouldn’t make it there for long otherwise. 

 After all, no matter if it was in his blood or how tough he was, Ian Gallagher wasn’t truly South side. Not really. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unedited at the moment, so if you spot any mistakes, I promise i'll get around to fixing it tomorrow! Really sorry about that!! 
> 
> But hey, just one more chapter to go!! Lemme know what you thought of this one please? xx

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, Kudos, criticism of the constructive kind and just your thoughts in general are always welcome!
> 
> I'm only human and I love me some attention guys ;)
> 
> See you next sunday!


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